Sukhothai, “dawn of happiness” in Pali, is often considered the birthplace of the Thai nation. Sometime around 1247 AD the Khmer military outpost there was overthrown by Thai forces, bringing an end to an era of vassalage to Angkor. Not long after, having made alliances with other principalities in the region, Sukhothai became the first truly independent Thai kingdom and the most powerful nation in Southeast Asia. During the reign of Ramkhamhaeng (1279–1298), most of what is now Thailand, the Lanna north excluded, fell under its sway.

Wat Mahathat, originally the site of a Khmer sanctuary, was transformed by Sukhothai’s kings into a royal temple and Theravada Buddhist monastery, becoming the spiritual center of the kingdom and at one time the most important Buddhist monastery in Southeast Asia.

Sukhothai : Wat Mahathat

The temple at dawn. The Buddha image is in bhumisparsa mudra, a pose signifying the overcoming of all worldly desires and delusions, the point at which the Buddha attained enlightenment.

The underlying symbolism of the temple derives from a Khmer/Hindu tradition in which their temples were meant to be replicas of the cosmic order, erected to ensure earthly harmony with the rest of the universe. The tower seen in the background, at the heart of the temple, is its most sacred spot. It represents Mount Meru, home of the gods and axis of the universe.

The Buddha we have seen before, here in early-morning light.

Two viharn, or assembly halls, were sited in front of the central sanctuary. All that remains of them today are their platforms and the laterite columns that once supported their roofs.

This detail from the pediment of one of the smaller chedi, or stupas, that surround the central sanctuary shows a scene from the birth of the Buddha, with the Buddha's mother surrounded by attendants. She stands, holding the branch of a tree, to give birth.

Worshippers in circumambulatory meditation surround the base of the central tower.

This enormous standing Buddha, in an open enclosure called a mondop, is one of two. They appear on either side of the central sanctuary.

A view from the north of the central sanctuary, with the ruins of one of the two assembly halls on the left.

Directly to the north of the central sanctuary are the ruins of an ubosot, or ordination hall, with a Buddha in bhumisparsa mudra, or Calling the Earth to Witness pose.

The lotus-bud-shaped relic chamber at the top of the central tower, which fuses with the tapering finial above it, is a typical Sukhothai architectural motif.

The extraordinarily serene smile characteristic of the quintessential Sukhothai Buddha is apparent on the face of the Buddha in bhumisparsa mudra seen here, with the temple’s central sanctuary in the background.

A view of the moat surrounding the temple complex. The waters of the moat and the five ponds within the temple grounds were meant to symbolize the cosmic ocean on which the universe rests.

An anonymous worshipper's merit-making gesture in the form of a colorful garland left to honor one of the temple's Buddha images.

This and the other nighttime photos here were taken when the temple was lighted in honor of Visaka Bucha, one of the holiest days of the Buddhist calendar, celebrating three major events in the Buddha's life: his birth, enlightenment, and passage into parinirvana.